Friday favs

Inspired by the cuz - a favourite thing for Friday... a music video which reminds me of the cuz - driving down to visit my sister, while singing Mockers songs in the back of the car (and probably driving my aunt mad)... unfortunately, there's no youtube video of 'Cleopatra'...

Thought for Thursday

"Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life." ~ Mark Twain.

Quote for the day

Happiness, thought Cadfael, watching him, consists in small things, not in great. It is the small things we remember, when time and mortality close in, and by small landmarks we may make our way at last humbly into another world.
Taken from the story An Excellent Mystery by Ellis Peters. And copied from Steve C's Cadfael site.

Update on the Mollster

Here she is... demanding attention...

Molly is doing well. She's not entirely sure about this 'inside cat' thing. I'm going to have to watch her weight as she's not exercising now, but is insisting on eating the same amount.

And she is making craftwork even more difficult than before - now EVERY night she is in my face - literally - demanding attention. All while I'm trying to knit a blanket for the ex-flatmate's baby... Oh, and work on my Bead Challenge entry.

So, following on from the general Cat Pee Wars... all up, the territorial dispute has cost nearly $600.

On the plus side - there's no marking going on now Molly is the only cat allowed in the house!

But, this morning her insistence on staying on the balcony (after I'd been out for a cigarette) left me running late for work, and I forgot to bring my books back to the library!

3 sports headlines you wouldn't expect to hear...

and all in the same bulletin... [yes, I know, I'm days late - but, trust me, they've been action-packed days!]
Saturday morning, on my way to work, heard the sports headlines and these three stood out as weird...

• Tiger Woods misses the cut at the British Open
• Australia struggling to make the follow-on at the Ashes
• NZ cyclist shot during the Tour

See, weird!

A week in the life... (not for the squeamish)

of me and my cat, Molly...

Last Monday I took photos of Molly enjoying the sun.

On Friday, I followed my usual morning routine... up at 5.30am, up the stairs to fed the Molly-ster & have a smoke... and was greeted with this lovely sight

So, texted my mother to see if she was available to take us to the vet; texted the sister up the road to see if I could borrow the cat cage... checked when the vet opened, and then sat and patted her for an hour until Mum arrived. Oh, and texted the boss to say I might make it in; oh, and Ana, to say I wouldn't make it for coffee that morning.

Off to the vet! And, so I stop feeling guilty that this is all because I moved her somewhere with horrible cats that invade her space... she was last at the vet's 3 years ago with a cat bite wound or two, one in her ear...

My mum isn't necessarily that fond of Molly (Molly is very vocal & demanding), but Mum was worried. This was not the normal behaviour of my Mollwoll... No cat cage to the vet's, she just lay quiet in my arms, wrapped in a towel, with very little noise or movement. We didn't think the vet had taken her temperature, she just lay like a fluffy slipper on the bench and didn't move or make a noise.

Check up... abscess... operation pending... small heart murmur... but kidneys and teeth and gums all fabulous. Not bad for nearly 13. Home, waiting by the phone...

Go to pick her home. She claws her way out of the cat cage and stumbles, drunkenly, up the stairs straight to her food bowl, and glared at me, because she couldn't reach her food... hence the temporary dining arrangements as below.

The rest of the weekend was spent quite uncomfortably. My big sister visited her on Saturday, while I was at work, and got trapped patting her - yes, the needy cat - but Molly was distracted by new food put out... always works.

She didn't navigate well with the collar on - was more inclined to bump into things and then give up, rather than negotiate her way around obstacles... But she did do a great Snoppy Vulture impression over the weekend!

Then, back to the vet's yesterday to have everything removed. That time, she leapt from the cage and ran & hit under my bed. Finally, she was able to clean herself...

So, back to normal - I can stop having to lift her on and off furniture, and move stuff out of her way (oh, and gross bit - trim dried poo off her fluff, because she hasn't been able to clean herself all weekend...)

Thank goodness! I am so NOT cut out to be a nurse to any creature. But now I have the unenviable task of turning my outdoors cat into an indoors cat, with supervised outside visits.

For more photos, visit my facebook album.

December! I have to wait until DECEMBER....

What?!?!

Under the Mountain is due out in December... that's aaaaggggeeeeessss away...

The (cat) pee wars

I understand the WHY of it all... but it's still driving me to distraction (and into overdraft)...

Molly is having territorial disputes with the cat (possibly cats) next door, who treat the catflap as an invitation to visit.

The problem is, Molly is used to ruling the roost - and the neighbourhood - but she's not the tough 6-year-old she was when she last had to assert dominance. She's 12½ now, and things are different.

I've had to wash clothes I don't wear, because they were left in a pile to sort out (the dress-up wardrobe).

I've had to wash a handbag. It wasn't my paranoia after all, it DID smell of cat pee...

I've had to wash a pillow that fell off my bed. Oh, and get the washing machine fixed after that resulted in a split pillow and fluff all through the machine. But, hey!, first time it's been serviced in its 15+ years of life! Note to self: don't try that again.

I've had to buy carpet deodorises, carpet sprays, anti-pet smell sprays, room deodorises, extra litter tray, litter...

Oh, and a new umbrella. It was in the handbag. Yeah, ok, I bought more than one umbrella - but I feel they should also be fashion accessories and match your outfit. I've just never bothered before.

So, all up, this territorial dispute has cost $300+ and counting...

And a few hours of lost sleep as the sound of fighting cats wakes me up and I have to get up and chase evil trespassing cat/s away...

And - no - a magnet catflap will not work. That presupposes my cat would keep a collar on. Not going to happen.

By the way - that's Molly getting close to her friend, the heater. So, yes, she costs me money too, because I've had to start the timer on the heaters earlier than I would otherwise, to keep her warm.

And the person who suggested that I might like to reconsider my decision to have a Molly in my life - you've got to be joking. This whole situation is total and utter pain - and expensive - but my life without her wouldn't be worth it, you cold-hearted non-pet owner.